Selinsgrove Center is a state owned intermediate care facility located on 254 acres of land, centrally located in Snyder County, just outside the borough of Selinsgrove. The Center serves 250 people in 19 different living areas. The age range of the people living at the center is from 23 to 95 years. The vast majority of people have called Selinsgrove Center their home for over 40 years. All 900 employees play an integral part of the multi-disciplinary team which focuses on a person-centered approach for services and supports that we provide. This holistic staff approach is vital to the success of the Center and our dedication to supporting people with intellectual disabilities in achieving their personal life goals in an effort to lead an everyday life.

The people who reside at Selinsgrove Center have varying levels of intellectual disabilities which require extensive supports with daily living, social skills, medical care, and vocational training. The Center provides 24-hour a day medical services, as well as, occupational and physical therapy, psychiatric, speech and hearing, recreational and social work services. Selinsgrove Center is family oriented and strives to include family members in all aspects of their loved one’s life. Family members are encouraged to participate and assist in devising an annual comprehensive plan to support their loved one, as well as frequent visits and attendance at various recreational events like the Family Picnic, Spring Fest, and the Memorial Day Bash.

Selinsgrove Center is actively involved in the community. Local community groups are encouraged to volunteer at the Center and many of the people who live at the Center are members of local civic groups. The Center is a member of the Greater Susquehanna Valley Chamber of Commerce. There is a Recycling Center on-campus that provides a convenience for businesses in the Selinsgrove area and employment opportunities for the individuals who live at the Center.

The caring, well trained staff work together to provide a well-rounded and high quality of services to the people residing at Selinsgrove Center, while striving to meet their personal wants, needs, and goals.

Kevin E. Dressler,Facility Director

Mission Statement

The mission of Selinsgrove Center is to support people who live at the Center to meet their personal life goals.

Guiding Principles

Selinsgrove Center emphasizes the following values:

Respect – recognizing the uniqueness and value of all people through one’s words and actionsHonesty – being truthful with oneself and othersTeamwork – a commitment to collaboration to support the mission of Selinsgrove CenterDependability – being reliable, accountable, and trustworthyCompassion – caring for others in a kind and supportive way

Consumer Rights

According to the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act of 2000, the United States Congress has found that “[D]isability is a natural part of the human experience that does not diminish the right of individuals with developmental disabilities to live independently, to exert control and choice over their own lives, and to fully participate in and contribute to their communities through full integration and inclusion in the economic, political, social, cultural, and educational mainstream of United States society;”

Selinsgrove Center is committed to protecting the rights of the individuals that live here, as citizens of the United States and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and empowering them to assert their rights to the fullest extent. These rights include:

Freedom from abuse and neglect

Respect and fairness

Freedom from unnecessary restraints

Freedom from experimental programs

Freedom of expression

Personal possessions

Choice and access to personal belongings

Choice of clothing

Money management

Voting in elections

Being informed and ability to choose services

Choose community services

Notification of program changes

Choice of day program services

Participation in Center activities and events

Representation by a lawyer or advocate

Payment for work

Personal privacy

Confidentiality

Private conversations

Send and receive mail unopened

Religious freedom

Being informed about your rights

Attendance at personal meetings

Ability to read personal chart

Refusal of treatment

Marriage and intimate relationships

Clean, safe and personalized environment

Adequate nutrition

Have complaints addressed by the Center

Pursue interests and hobbies

History

In 1917, 400 acres of land including a building were purchased for the site of the initial facility named The Eastern State Hospital for the Insane. Tenants farmed the land for 10 years. By 1929, new cottages had been built to accommodate the first 120 patients. The name of the facility was changed to the Selinsgrove State Colony for Epileptics. By 1930, subsequent land purchases the grounds to nearly 1,300 acres. More buildings were erected and in 1931, there were 446 epileptic male patients residing at the Colony. To accommodate self-sufficiency, only men who could work were admitted. The residents farmed the land, operated a bakery, dairy, laundry, and other enterprises. The population doubled by the early 1940’s when women and children with intellectual disabilities were admitted. The name of the facility changed again in 1954 to Selinsgrove State School and Hospital. The population of the facility peaked in 1965 when it reached 2,100 residents. The name Selinsgrove Center was adopted in 1977. Currently, the Center encompasses 254 acres of land and has had a steady reduction in population from 700 in 1994 to just 250 today.

Selinsgrove Center is one of five residential, intermediate care facilities for people who have intellectual disabilities. It is operated by the Office of Developmental Programs and is licensed as an Intermediate Care Facility/Intellectual Disabilities (ICF/ID). Basic principles of ICF/ID facilities are: each individual has capacity for growth and development, each individual should have access to services that enhance his/her development, well-being, and quality of life, each individual should have access to the most normal and least restrictive social and physical environments consistent with his/her needs, and each individual’s services should be delivered in accordance with a single, comprehensive individual rehabilitation plan that is developed, monitored, coordinated, and revised by members of a duly constituted interdisciplinary team. To the maximum extent possible, services and supports reflect person-centered planning, inclusion in community life, and control and choice by the person served. Values for the persons include choice, control, permanency, security, freedom, prosperity, individuality, relationships, recognition, privacy, and citizenship.

Additionally, Selinsgrove Center is involved with the community through participation in The Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services and the Office of Developmental Programs joint initiative known as the Positive Practice Resource Team. This group serves those individuals with intellectual disabilities who are demonstrating at-risk behavioral challenges and whom the team determines may need enhanced levels of support not readily known or available to them. The goals of this initiative are two-fold: to build capacity within the provider network in Pennsylvania to serve dually diagnosed individuals and to encourage State Hospital and State Center diversion through providing consultative services that assist the provider in continuing to serve the individual in their home environment.

Therapeutic Activities Services (TAS) at Selinsgrove Center facilitates recreational activities for residents such as picnics, swimming, camping, game-room activities, ceramics studio, greenhouse, Café, Adult Center, movies, dances, live concerts, Special Olympics, restaurant visits, shopping and local fairs. Larger initiatives are also coordinated, including trips to the Ice Capades, circuses, local amusement parks, sporting events, formal dinner dances, and the Bloomsburg Fair. In recent years, overnight vacations to Little Buffalo State Park, the Pocono’s, outlet shopping, live theatrical shows, and various other tourist destinations throughout the state of Pennsylvania have been made. A minimum of one Center-wide activity is held monthly anchored by four major events annually that focus on increasing opportunities for our residents to enjoy activities with their family and friends, including: National Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month Celebration, Springfest, Family Picnic and Holiday Leadership Tea.

The vocational aspect of TAS focuses on the Client Worker program, which includes recycling, workshop, self-employment and community employment. Individuals choose how to spend their earnings, with some purchase examples being; hobbies, an electronic device, personal collections, snacks, and restaurant visits.

TAS operates the Café seven days a week providing an on-campus retail experience for individuals to apply independent food choice and exercise purchase decisions. The Café offers hot and cold meal choices as well as snacks and soft serve ice cream. There are also various sundry items available, including, personal care, decorative and clothing.

Selinsgrove Center makes every effort to provide the people that live at the Center an environment that maximizes individual potential and ensures that personal needs are regularly and thoroughly assessed and that those needs are fulfilled.

Community Services

TAS offers products to the public for purchase. Call 570-372-2547 for information.

Hardware Kits: Packaging multiple hardware items into kit form for local and national businesses.

Small Parts Assembly: Assembling small parts for area businesses.

Light Bindery: Folding, stapling, labeling, and retail packaging.

Recycling Center: Provides area businesses with cardboard and aluminum can bundling into one-half ton bales (pickup service is available). Office documents may be brought to the Center for shredding; confidential and non-confidential documents are processed.

Take the PA Turnpike West towards Harrisburg.Take Harrisburg East/PA-283 (Exit I9A, the firstHarrisburg exit).Go straight after the toll boothto I-283 North.Go 3 miles to I-83 North.Go 4 miles to I-81 South.Go 3 miles to US 22/US 322 West/Lewistown.Exit (towards PA-230 E. Cameron Street).Stay to the right at the fork in the ramp.Merge onto US-22 West. Take US-15/11 North Exit towards Selinsgrove.Go 30 miles to PA-35 South. Exit SelinsgroveStay to the right at the blinking light.Merge onto Market Street.Go north through the town of Selinsgrove.Turn Left at the 4th traffic light onto 522 South. Proceed approximately one mile. Selinsgrove Center is on the right side of the road after Wendt’s Pork Palace and Short Stop Gas Station.

From Harrisburg International Airport:

Take the LOCAL ROAD one mile to Airport Connector North.Go 2 miles to I-283 Go 2 Northwest.Go 3 miles to I-83 North.Go 4 miles to I-81 South.Go 3 miles to US 22/US 322 West/Lewistown.Exit (towards PA-230 E. Cameron Street).Stay to the right at the fork in the ramp.Merge onto US-22 West. Take US-15/11 North Exit towards Selinsgrove.Go 30 miles to PA-35 South. Exit SelinsgroveStay to the right at the blinking light. Merge onto Market Street.Go north through the town of Selinsgrove.Turn Left at the 4th traffic light onto 522 South.Proceed approximately one mile. Selinsgrove Center is on the right side of the road after Wendt’s Pork Palace and Short Stop Gas Station.